One of the racecourse chairman’s numerous tasks at the Cheltenham Festival is
to announce the winner of the Betfred Gold Cup at the post-race prizegiving
on the rostrum in the winner’s enclosure.

For the second time during his two-year stint in the role Robert Waley-Cohen will be delegating this responsibility to his deputy, Christopher Hodgson. As owner of Long Run, who is seeking to regain the title he won in 2011, Waley-Cohen wants neither to announce himself, while deliriously happy, nor to announce another “through gritted teeth” while masking his disappointment.

Waley-Cohen is happy, however, to be coming at this year’s Gold Cup from the position of underdog. As he did when he won the race as a six year-old, Long Run goes to the Gold Cup with the season’s King George in the bag but, in some ways, the gelding has slipped out of fashion. Not only is Long Run not favourite this time, in terms of betting, he is also his stable’s second-string behind Bobs Worth.

“All the pressure is on the others,” said Waley-Cohen. “I enjoyed seeing Malcolm Kimmins, the owner of Bobs Worth, the other day – he’s clearly 'walking his box’. I’m very relaxed and it’s nice not having the additional pressure of being the favourite as we were in 2011. The horse looks fantastic, he looks mature for the first time in his life. He has had two away days which have sharpened him up physically and mentally.”

D-Day in Long Run’s Gold Cup build up will be tomorrow morning when he schools over fences in cheekpieces for the first time. “There are three possibilities,” pointed out Waley-Cohen. “It will either make him concentrate and focus, which is what we are after, he will be indifferent to them or he will be uncontrollable. Ironically, a year ago we were using ear plugs to keep him relaxed.

“But on three occasions Sam has said he’s pulled up in front; once when he beat Denman by seven lengths and broke the course record in the 2011 Gold Cup, once in last year’s Aon, when he beat Burton Port, and, arguably, in this year’s King George when he had got past Champion Court at the eleventh fence. He’s a very brave, courageous horse, who wants to win, but when he thinks he’s won he thinks the job is over.”

Whether he wears cheekpieces in the race could be one of the biggest decisions of Waley-Cohen’s career as an owner. “It’s a pity inflatable cheekpieces haven’t been invented yet,” he added “because as much as we want him buzzing at the end we don’t want him buzzing early on, which always used to be the problem.”

Alan King made a significant jockey booking on Wednesday when he snapped up Nico de Boinville, the season’s leading amateur and Long Run’s work rider, to ride Godsmejudge in the John Oaksey National Hunt Chase. “I’m very happy with the horse,” said King. “I think he’s one of my best chances.”